With the help of two industry insiders that have given a lot of thought to the free-to-play market in North America, Ten Ton Hammer investigates what's stifled the evolution of free-to-play MMO gaming in North America long after the concept had taken hold around the world. We'll also examine why many hail DDO Unlimited as a turning point, and trace the increasing quality of free-to-play MMOGs even as subscription MMOGs turn in disappointing numbers.

Bjorn noted that the unfinished nature of most MMORPGs at launch, typically viewed in the Western market as a irreconcilable weakness, is viewed elsewhere as fundamental part of the experience. In other words, for gamers and developers of a certain mindset, polish may limit potential. Putting the gamers first, and letting them dictate their experience  that feedback loop is really important to us You cant shove your ideas down the throat of the user.

Could free-to-play may ultimately make the subscription-driven MMORPG obsolete, or is this just another increasingly popular way to game? Find out in next week's feature article: The Rise of Free-to-Play.

About The Author

Jeff's interest in online games stretches back to organizing neighborhood Unreal tournaments as a teenager, but when a college roommate introduced him to EverQuest, an interest became an obsession. Jeff joined the Ten Ton Hammer team in 2004 covering EverQuest II, and he's had his hands on just about every PC online and multiplayer game since.